Alex in the kitchen, the owner and rest of the staff are everything you want in a fine dining restaurant. Old school ambiance, mounted crabs and beautiful Asian decor. Must pet the carved wooden halibut in the foyer. The food is amazing, fresh and beautifully presented. The Portside is one of our all time favorites! Susie & Bobby West Salem & Charleston! read more

I had a pleasant meal here a few days ago, just before Christmas. There were only 3 customers and while the service was cordial, it was a bit slow with one waitress taking care of phone calls and orders and such. Today, I stopped back to sample more of the seafood offerings on the menu. Was greeted and told to wait, she would be right back to seat me. After waiting 10 minutes, I decided to find somewhere else to eat. A couple behind me also left. Poor, poor customer service. read more

Portside Restaurant - Stopped in for a late lunch.Clam chowder with oyster crackers. - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

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Went with friends for a quiet dinner, was far from quiet- went on Friday and they happened to have a guy pounding on the piano and singing, was very annoying, basically ruined a quiet evening. Ordered a captains platter and took some home, a piece of salmon that was there was a piece of breaded fin- no salmon, you would think they would have seen that, not sure we will go back. read more

Fabulous local seafood & 3 sizes of Australian lobster tail! Offering a size to fit ur stomach and a prize to fit ur wallet. The taste and texture are perfection & performed by chelf Alex. The gentleman owner, Joe, is gracious & welcoming. The entire staff & servers are friendly and professional. You'll truly enjoy the dinning experience from cocktails through dessert! read more

Horrible meal and service. Beginning with the appetizer, the shrimp cocktail was made up of these very small shrimp, like you'd see in an egg roll. I felt like that should have been better described in the menu as we were expecting the more traditional medium to large size shrimp. The lettuce in the salads was wilted. We never received a bread basket though every other table did. Anything that wasn't deep fried was over cooked - 2 of the diners ordered steaks and both were well done though they were ordered medium, lobster tail was overcooked and rubbery. I had the Salmon Charleston and it was burnt to a crisp on the bottom. Additionally, the dish was described as "salmon medallions" but it was definitely more like salmon cakes, like a frozen patty. One patty had crab on top, the other had shrimp, both unseasoned and the shrimp were cold. The waitress disappeared and didn't even bother asking if we wanted a box, it was like she knew how terrible it was. Definitely would not recommend or return. read more

I gotta. I decided to finally treat myself . I ordered the surf and turf for $75, the steak was bland dry and had no flavor and the lobster was like rubber...again no flavor. Same with clam chowder. I had to add salt and pepper to make it right. I cook a lot of food and id be embarrassed to serve that. The best thing I had was some fries off my kids chicken strip plate. At least they how to deep fry something. Service wasnt bad. Scenery was great. But overall experience and expensive meal sucked. I tried to doctor the steak when I got home and even then it wasnt good. Ill stick to cooking my own meats at home. What a waste. read more

The food was great. Service was a little slow. But our server very pleasant. Over all good experience.

The service was the only good thing. The clam chowder was barely warm, the fish and chips were made from some kind of fish I'm not sure about, probably tilapia. Please save your money and go to a better restaurant. You're sure to be disappointed. read more

The menu here delighted my senses just reading it. Stopping by before watching the sunset on Cape Arago, I chose to carb-load with the Oregon Seafood Pasta and enjoy the four-oyster shooter plate, and I'm glad I chose to stop here. The hot tea and the warm bread served with a whipped margarine type of a butter helped me thaw after a chilly breeze in the evening; the quality of service was outstanding. I also was the only diner here for most of my meal as I came close to the closing time. The food came out quickly and the pasta dish was amazing. Can't wait to come back. read more

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Baked oysters were chewy, clam chowder was worse and the soup itself was like a fluffed up something or another. The fish and chips were tasty, the fish moist, not dry, and there was one hell of a lot of fish on the plate. The scallops and mushrooms and a cream of sauce or find, no more no less. Just watch what you order. I'd stick with a plain salad and fish and chips if I were you. read more

The food was not very good and the bench was dirty with a bunch of crumbs quite gross. The waitress was nice at least.

This is a nice upscale restaurant. They serve pleasant food with good service. The view is one of the best in this area of the state. Lobster tale was nice steak tender but dry. Veggies and salads were fresh and appealing visually with plenty of tasty spices or sauces. Waitress was nice friendly and split our meal great. We each had a salad and were not disappointed with the fresh bread at all. The ambiance was clean but dated. The partially walled off areas made this feel maze like and everything was minimally wheelchair accessible. There were nice drinks and quick bar but less busy and older made it less fun. read more

Portside Restaurant - View of bay from windows - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

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The best thing about tonite was the server, she was polite and sweet and the only server in the whole dining room! It was busy too! She had to apologize to every guest for the service being slow! The very last thing a restaurant owner wants to hear is anyone apologizing for anything in their place! Don't know what was wrong with the kitchen but everything was to well done except the salad. The place is located in a nice area to bad the food sucks! We had to pay a pretty penny for bad food! Maybe avoid till there are changes. read more

Portside Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

We came in at 8 o'clock on Sunday night. The first thing the host is said to us is let me check to make sure we are still serving dinner, even though the sign on the front door said they closed at nine. We were OK with that. She came back within a few minutes and said yes, we can be seated. It was only two other people in the entire restaurant. I ordered the fish and chips and my husband ordered the calamari and clam chowder. When our food came out, it was semi warm, I took one bite of my fish and chips and had a horrible aftertaste to it. I tried the fries and they tasted like old grease. My husband's fried calamari was decent and he ate all of the the clam chowder. When the waitress came back, she asked me if everything was OK and I mentioned to her that the fish and chips had a bad taste to it. She apologized. my husband finished his meal and then another server came by and asked if I needed a box. I again mentioned that no thank you the fish did not taste good and neither did the fries. Our original waitress came by and brought us our Bill never once offering to take anything off of our bill no discount no nothing we were charged full price for the fish and chips. I called two days later to speak to the manager. They advised that the manager was not in, they took my name and number and said the manager would call me when he got in later that evening. I still have yet to get a call. It's not so easy to go back in there and talk to the manager as we live in California. It would be nice to get some type of a callback or response. Paying full price for a meal that I ate one bite of a piece of fish and one fry just does not seem reasonable to me. read more

What a disappointment. Paid 24.95 for a crab sandwich which turned out to be approximately 6 small legs on a piece of bread with mayonnaise spread on the second piece of bread and a few pieces of shredded lettuce. I have never seen a crab sandwich made this way (and I have ordered many crab sandwiches in my lifetime). The clam chowder was okay--but nothing special. I was headed to the Hungry Monkey, but they are closed on Tuesday! Have had amazing clam chowder there. Maybe I can catch them on my next vacation. read more

On our tour of restaurants in the Coos Bay Area where we now live, we were given a gift card for this delightful place. We went for happy hour at 4:30 and first of all their happy hour menu is great good portions really good food for a great price, drinks too I got the special, whole crab it came with a salad and fries and it was all amazing, the bread was fresh and so good. The service was great as well. We loved it and are excited to keep coming back read more

Portside Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

Sign said wait to be seated. No one there at the reception area. Someone came out and had to tell servers we were there. Only one other party in the restaurant for dinner. Servers were nice and attentive once seated. Seafood was overcooked. Scallops were tough. read more

Nice server, Horrible Management/Ownership. Not Clean. Both our cloth napkins were dirty, not a good sign. Very low quality food and very expensive. The Chairs, Carpets, Woodwork and Windows very dirty. read more

Well, as I said in my previous reviews, we would come back to the Portside Lounge to try the dining area. Arriving at 4:30 we were the first to enter & chose to sit in the bar area What can I say? It was wonderful! Large helpings, friendly service & a nice atmosphere. Eli was our waiter & was very good, checking on us often. In the area & hungry? Have dinner here, you won't regret it at all. read more

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The food was good. The chowder was not the best with now much clams. Older restaurant with not much interior updates but part of the bay setting. Very friendly staff!Nice views down by the bay. read more

Portside Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

Hello! I recently went to this restaurant with my family members to get a quick dinner, when the waiter came out and gave us our drinks, my grandmother got an apple Martini, I got a diet pepsi, my mom got a margarita, My Dad got a Vodka Drink, All of our drinks were watered DOWN mine tasted like it had chlorine mixed in it, the place was quiet and the food was amazing, just wouldn't recommend the drinks.. read more

Well Covid-19 aside. A Mai tai that looks like a mojito and tastes bitter with mint? Not all the stuff to make a Singapore Sling but the bartender is pretty good and can substitute, NOT. It looked and tasted the same as the mail tai minus the mint. Recommend you go back to bartending school. Ordered the Stuffed Petrale Sole Monterey. It was described as Petrale Sole stuffed with shrimp mozzarella and dungeoness crab topped with cheddar. I was asked if I wanted mashed potatoes or rice. I got mashed potatoes. Good thing because that full boat of "sole stuffed with cheese shrimp and crab was 99% rice. Glad the mashed potatoes and gravy earned the one star or I would be sad to give one star. Service was ok. I do not need to come back. I would not recommend to my crazy aunt, family member or enemy. Stay away unless you want to waste money. read more

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We went here on recommendation from employee at the hotel...as I have read other reviews I'm thinking they are recommending this place for a kick back. We were seated outside with a view of the parking lot, we asked to be inside but she said it was full. At least 6 more groups came when we were seated and all got taken inside. Ordered the overpriced fish and chips and chowders. Fish and chips was over cooked and breading hard on a few pieces. The chowder was lumpy with flour globs and maybe 2 clam pieces. Didn't taste good. The best part was the sodas (sarcasm) that had ants floating in it...all four cups. Told my family not to drink it. When the served showed up half hour later I asked for new sodas without ants and she told me they are all over INSIDE the machine and they can't get them out. Really?!? A visit from a health inspector is really needed. Avoid this place like the plague! Monkey business or millers have much better food and service in Charleston read more

What great food. The clam chowder was creamy, well seasoned, and, well, clammy. The crab leg cocktail was tasty, with intact dungeness crab leg meat. My wife's grilled snapped was grilled to perfection, and my Coquilles Saint-Jacques was very good. The mushroom flavor almost overwhelmed the scallops, but they were so good in the rich sauce. This is the off season, so we were the only guests in the dining room, although there were some parties dining in the lounge. We like the view from the lounge, and it was certainly quiet. They had no wine list, just a verbal selection of wines by the glass. Service was excellent. The waitress was clearly paying attention to when we finished our cocktails because the appetizers came out immediately after that. Entrees and wine were served in a timely manner. The chef came out and talked to us when we finished our meal. A very pleasant evening. read more

Very disappointing! I love razor clams. I have a couple spots in our north coast that I've been going to for years. Always good. This spot was recommended to me by staff at my hotel. The razor clams were terrible. They weren't cleaned very well and we're extremely Sandy/gritty and chewy. They were served me on a paper plate with a plastic fork for an outrageously high price. I will never come back here again. read more

Portside Restaurant - Chewy, gritty , razor clams - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

I have to think that if the main restaurant was open, the service would be different but since it was not, I am writing about the covered patio. First off, the food is DELICIOUS! I have had fish and chips in the past but these were AMAZING! I seriously want some now as I'm thinking about them. The clam chowder was also delicious! The main problem was that the server was very new and really didn't know much about anything that they served. She let us know that she didn't have serving experience in the past but I commended her for trying. She wasn't terrible, she just didn't know what to recommend or about the special (that was listed outside). I will still come back but I want to try the main restaurant to see the difference in ambiance and service. ........ .. .... .. . read more

Went here for our anniversary because a year ago ish the food and service was great. So much went badly, I'm just going to list it. Greeted by a homeless looking guy, rude sounding and didn't do anything after asking if we'd been helped. Took 20 minutes to get room temp water and mediocre bread with oily "butter" but no utensils to spread butter like substance. Another 15 minutes to get drinks, silverware and appetisers ordered. Brought appetizer but wouldn't take order. An hour after arriving the waitress/ bartender asked if we were ready for our bill!!!!!! Should have just said yes, because the meal was the worst meal I've had ever. Husband's "medium" ribeye was "blue" and so tough even i wouldn't eat it and I eat raw meat. Coquille St Jacques( had it last time and was nothing like this) was 7 nickel sized scallops in mushroom soup with lumps of flour throughout. Broccoli for both of us was partially over and undercooked. Rice pilaf was more like badly made egg fried rice with pimentos in it. None of it was seasoned. Something very wrong has happened here. read more

Service is great. Food tries to be great, but I found it meh. I'm a pretty good cook myself, so am alcritical when it comes to eating out. Clams in special sauce were a little too saucy, a few shell pieces and a ton of bay leaf. Clam chowder was ok, my shrimp and scallop pasta also ok, seafood slightly overcooked, mushrooms undercooked. Oh well, we were happy to stimulate the Charleston/Bay Area economy. read more

I visited on a Sunday after the lunch rush, walked in and sat myself at the bar. I grabbed a menu, and a lady came to me after about 10 minutes of no service and said that another girl would be there to help. No other person came to check as I sat there for a total of about 15 minutes. I ended up leaving without any service, but I did snap two pictures of their menu for future Yelpers. Perhaps if I would've been served, my rating would be different. read more

Portside Restaurant - 2024 Menu - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

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6/21/24 5:30 pm we went to the Portside Restaurant. The ambiance in the dining area is nice. We were seated by the huge windows. It's dated decor but taken care of, looks to be 1980's decor. We didn't order drinks because we had plenty at the hotel room. We started off with the calamari appetizer which wasn't disappointing, I was surprised by that when it arrived as it wasn't tubes and tentacles. It was long rectangular strips. My son ordered the fried crab legs and chips, husband ordered the fish and chips and I ordered a chicken, sun dried tomatoes and artichoke salad. I watched as we were never brought out a bread and butter basket like everyone else. I watched as we sat for an hour and many others being served their dinner. My husband at one point asked if it would be anytime soon and she said she saw them arranging it. I was getting stressed out , my stomach was knotted up because I started to think maybe it was personal. We are white so it wasn't our race ( as others complained about) . However my husband is quite older than I and that really irks some people. Females in particular. So I told my husband I was leaving and to tell the waitress to take my food off the check. I decided to walk back to where we were staying. As I exited the restaurant I was greeted by a friendly tuxedo cat with gold eyes and a raspy voice. That was the best part and I'm glad I met that cat because she brightened up my mood and made me forget I was hungry. I went back to the room and was probably there at least another half hour before they got back. They said it was good but not worth the time or cost. I asked if they ever got a bread basket and they did not. read more

We got a quarter in our meal, and we didn't even get a full refund for the very meal which by the way, is a hepatitis risk. Bathrooms are unsanitary with everything requiring you to physically touch including paper towel dispensers. The deep fried crabs and chips tasted like salt, in this situation it should have been a full refund from the health hazard instead of 25% off a single meal. I ate 5 of the 10 (sawdust and salt) small deep fried crab legs and chips, and apparently that couldn't be refunded either. Which is basically 20% of the meal from the other things with it. Summary: if you don't care about your health this is a great place to eat read more

Portside Restaurant - Salad With Quarter in it - Seafood Near Me - Charleston, Oregon

I have been in the restaurant industry for over ten years. This hands down had the worst service I have ever experienced. When we were there, there was maybe 3 tables? It took over 30 minutes to even get a bottle of wine. We ordered two appetizers to go, and one chicken tenders meal. This was to have as a snack at our air bnb. All food was fried food and came an hour after our bottle of wine. The waitress never came back to give us our check, so we went to the front with our to-go food to pay our bill (that we had to ask for at the hour mark). You couldn't pay me to come back to this place. I didn't take any pictures because I spent the entire 1.5 irritated. 0/5 stars. read more

Very sweet staff and charming atmosphere, however it was very cold in the dining area. Additionally, we ordered the half oyster appetizer, the whole dungeoness crab, and the fried calamari. The crab meat smelled rotten; a couple of the legs had fallen off and were not attached to the body- the color was yellowish gray with the texture of meat that's clearly been frozen- overall a very disappointing experience. I am never one to send food back or look for a comp, but I do not believe I should've had to pay for a meal that was far from fresh/safe to eat. Very nice server though! read more

The prices were outrageous/ we ordered fish and chips-$21.95- the fish was greasy/ oily - clam chowder was good but only had few clams( gave me upset stomach when home) . I would never recommend this place. read more

Reading the mixed reviews, I was a little hesitant to try Portside, but we decided to give it a go. Very pleasant and efficient servers, though the decor is firmly stuck in the 70's. The Sole Neptune special was buttery, tender and perfectly cooked; outstanding. The Sole Monterey was equally delicious and not over-cheesy. If you can ignore the decor, you'll enjoy a yummy meal! read more

I'm taken back by all of the bad reviews here because my hubby and I really enjoyed the food here. Our favorite was the clam chowder, it was perfect. You can just tell it was home made and not just dump out of a can. Hats off to the chef for that one! We also had the fried calamari which were bigger pieces than what were used to but still good. I had the Cajun blackened halibut, fish tasted fresh. My husband had the deep fried crab legs. We were satisfied with it all. Can't forget about the amazing view they provide. Service was great too. read more

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While eating dinner a black and white cat was walking from kitchen to dinning area. When I told waitress Marlene about cat and questioned why it was in the restaurant she was like it's always here, it's the neighbors and casually got the cat from under neither our dinner table and took it out of the dining room. She acted like it was nothing and continued to serve food normally. When I mentioned it was not up to Oregon health code she dismissed my comment and continued to serve dinner to other customers. Will be reporting to Oregon Health department. DO NOT EAT HERE!!! It is very unsanitary and disgusting to eat at a restaurant that has cats in it!!!!! read more

This review was half written and never finished. This was from September 2018... Well, we came for oysters. Assuming Charleston was an oyster town the oysters on the half shell would be great. There's literally piles of oyster shells all over town. We chose Portside because we wanted a beer and some scenery to go along with our oysters. The beers were cold, and the scenery was decent...that's kind of where the positives ended. First we were waiting a long time, and were informed the kitchen had gone down the street to Chuck's to get more oysters. Chuck's is a seafood market down the street, which had we wanted to get them from the market we would have gone ourselves. The server was rude, the oysters were gross, too big, expensive, and they clearly CAME OUT OF A BUCKET, AND WERE PLACED ON RE-USED HALF-SHELLS. I can't believe that's even a thing... The server was grumpy and slow, and there was some drunk local at the bar heckling us for even bothering to order oysters this time of year. "don't ya know they're all full of sperm and eggs this time of year". Well...maybe that's why they were gross, but maybe they should just take them off the menu this time of year. Never going again, and you shouldn't either. read more

Stopped in for lunch today. My coworker and I ended up leaving due to the high cost of the menu. They had a very high priced menu . The three piece fish and chips was $20.95. A small soda was priced at $3.75 . Most restaurants have a reduced menu for lunch. The other thing that surprised me is that you're sitting on the back side of the restaurant looking at a view of a parking lot. I don't understand why they don't open the restaurant and the bar area so that you can have the view of the bay. If you're going to charge people this kind of price you got to give them some ambience. The other thing that surprised me is that we were given plastic forks and knives paper plates . The whole restaurant had one patron at lunch time on the coast. I recommend checking out the menu before you even enter the door. read more

If you want cafeteria food with fine dining price eat here. We will never go back. Enough said. read more